Journal of Neurophysiology

JNP Micro Podcasts ”Four Questions”: Tea Lulic-Kuryllo and David B. Lipps

In this micro podcast Dr. Tea Lulic-Kuryllo and Dr. David Lipps of the University of Michigan discuss their recently published research titled "Assessing shoulder muscle stretch reflexes following breast cancer treatment and postmastectomy breast reconstruction."

 

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Shoulder muscle stretch reflexes may be impacted following postmastectomy breast reconstruction and chemoradiation. Here, we examined short- and long-latency shoulder muscle stretch reflexes in two experiments following common breast reconstruction procedures and chemoradiation. We show impairments in pectoralis major stretch reflexes following postmastectomy breast reconstruction and pectoralis major and deltoid muscle stretch reflexes following chemoradiation. These findings indicate that breast cancer treatments alter the regulation of shoulder muscle stretch reflexes.

 

Citation

Assessing shoulder muscle stretch reflexes following breast cancer treatment and postmastectomy breast reconstruction

Tea Lulic-Kuryllo, Joshua M. Leonardis, Adeyiza O. Momoh, and David B. Lipps

Journal of Neurophysiology 2023 129:4, 914-926

JNP Micro Podcasts ”Four Questions”: Aiko Thompson and Alan Phipps

In this podcast Aiko Thompson and Alan Phipps of the Medical University of South Carolina talk about their recently published manuscript titled "Altered cutaneous reflexes to non-noxious stimuli in the triceps surae of people with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury"

 

NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study examined modulation of the triceps surae cutaneous reflexes during standing and walking and the relationship between cutaneous and H-reflexes in people with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). In people with SCI, the normal task-dependent, nerve-specific modulation of triceps cutaneous reflexes was missing. Cutaneous and H-reflexes were not correlated. Together with other spinal reflexes, cutaneous reflexes may serve as important biomarkers for the state of spinal interneuronal pathways.

 

Citation

Altered cutaneous reflexes to non-noxious stimuli in the triceps surae of people with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury

Alan M. Phipps and Aiko K. Thompson

Journal of Neurophysiology 2023 129:3, 513-523

JNP Micro Podcasts ”Four Questions”: Johannes Keyser, and Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes

In this podcast Johannes Keyser (Justus Liebig University Giessen) and Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes (Radboud University Nijmegen) talk about their recently published research "Late integration of vision and proprioception during perturbed reaches." 

 

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Both visual and proprioceptive signals provide information about arm state during reaching. By perturbing the perceived, but not the actual, position of the hand in both modalities using visual disturbances and muscle vibration, we examined multimodal integration and state estimation during reaching. Our results suggest that the early reach corrections are based on separate state estimates from the two sensory modalities and only later are based on a combined state estimate.

 

Citation:

Late integration of vision and proprioception during perturbed reaches

Johannes Keyser, W. Pieter Medendorp, Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes, and Luc P. J. Selen

Journal of Neurophysiology 2023 129:6, 1282-1292

JNP Micro Podcasts ”Four Questions”: Adalee J. Lube, and Bruce A. Carlson

Adalee J. Lube and Bruce Carlson of Washington University in St. Louis discuss their recently published manuscript "Spike timing-dependent plasticity alters electrosensory neuron synaptic strength in vitro but does not consistently predict changes in sensory tuning in vivo" in our newest micro podcast series. 

 

NEW & NOTEWORTHY We replicated behaviorally relevant temporal patterns of synaptic activity in vitro and used the same patterns during sensory stimulation in vivo. There was a Hebbian spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) pattern in vitro, but sensory responses in vivo did not shift according to STDP predictions. Analysis suggests that this disparity is influenced by differences in polysynaptic activity, including inhibitory interneurons. These results suggest that STDP rules at synapses in vitro do not necessarily apply to circuits in vivo.

 

Citation:

Spike timing-dependent plasticity alters electrosensory neuron synaptic strength in vitro but does not consistently predict changes in sensory tuning in vivo

Adalee J. Lube, Xiaofeng Ma, and Bruce A. Carlson

Journal of Neurophysiology 2023 129:5, 1127-1144

JNP Micro Podcasts ”Four Questions”: Jan-Marino (Nino) Ramirez and Nicholas J. Burgraff

Listen to our new micro podcast series where authors, Nicholas J. Burgraff and Jan-Marino (Nino) Ramirez of the Center for Integrative Brain Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute discuss their recently published research "Inspiratory rhythm generation is stabilized by I_h". 

 

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The Cortical Evoked Potential Corresponds with Deep Brain Stimulation Efficacy in Rats

In this podcast senior author Prof. Warren Grill of Duke University discusses his published manuscript "The cortical evoked potential corresponds with deep brain stimulation efficacy in rats" with Editor in Chief Prof. Nino Ramirez. In this paper the authors characterize a new potential biomarker for deep brain stimulation (DBS), the cortical evoked potential (cEP), and demonstrate that it exhibits a robust correlation with motor behaviors as a function of stimulation frequency. The cEP may thus be a useful clinical biomarker for changes in motor behavior. This work also provides insight into the cortical mechanisms of DBS, suggesting that motor behaviors are strongly affected by the rate of antidromic spike failure during DBS.

 

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How Functional brain states impinge on the fundamental functional organization of the brain in health and disease

In this podcast authors Prof. Albrecht Stroh of the University Medical Center and Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research in Mainz and Dr. Miriam Schwalm of Massachusetts Institute of Technology discuss their recently published manuscript Functional States Shape the Spatiotemporal Representation of Local and Cortex-wide Neural Activity in Mouse Sensory Cortex  with Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Nino Ramirez. The authors work, which was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Washington, compares the cortical representation of two distinct functional states, based on optical and electrophysiological signals, locally recorded in the primary visual and somatosensory area, and wide-field camera imaging of the entire mouse cortex. The authors examined intrinsic and stimulus-evoked neuronal activity under both states and show state-dependent signal propagation modes. As different types of anesthesia as well as different behavioral states show characteristics similar to the two states the authors described, these experiments serve as a model for cortical information processing and explain response variability of neural networks under seemingly constant conditions, which is relevant for a variety of neurophysiological studies.

 

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Covid shows us the importance of smell in cognitive health

In this podcast, Prof. Leslie Kay of The University of Chicago and Associate Editor for the Journal of Neurophysiology discusses her review article “COVID-19 and olfactory dysfunction: a looming wave of dementia?” with Editor in Chief Prof. Nino Ramirez. We find ourselves in the middle of a global “experiment” on the mechanisms of dementia and the relationship between our sense of smell and our ability to think. In many diseases that end in dementia, one of the early signs is olfactory dysfunction, often associated with degeneration in the olfactory bulb. More than 15 million people worldwide experience persistent COVID-19 olfactory changes, possibly caused by olfactory bulb damage. These data suggest a wave of post-COVID dementia in the coming decades, similar to the type of dementia seen in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. We can seize this gruesome opportunity to understand the involvement of the olfactory system in cognitive health. This will require intense study and increased resources to find treatments for smell dysfunction.

 

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The effects of reward on sequential motor behavior

In this podcast, senior author Dr. Joseph Galea of the University of Birmingham discusses his recently published manuscript "The dissociable effects of reward on sequential motor behavior" with Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Nino Ramirez. Joseph M. Galea, et al.'s research provides a mechanistic framework for how reward influences motor behavior. Specifically, the authors show that instantaneous improvements in speed and accuracy are driven by reward presented in the form of money, while knowledge of performance through performance feedback leads to training-based improvements. Importantly, combining both maximized performance gains and led to improvements in movement quality through fusion, which describes an optimization process during which sequential movements blend into a single action. Take a listen today! 

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Self-Organization of Spinal Monosynaptic and Interneuronal Circuitry

In this podcast coauthors Dr. Jonas M.D. Enander of Lund University and Dr. Gerald E. Loeb of the University of Southern California discuss their companion papers titled “A Model for Self-Organization of Sensorimotor Function: The Spinal Monosynaptic Loop" and "Spinal Interneuronal Integration” with Editor in Chief Prof. Nino Ramirez. In the first paper the authors present a model of a simple but biologically realistic musculoskeletal system with spindle primary afferents that become selectively connected to homonymous beta motoneurons as a result of Hebbian adaptation. The second paper models a later stage of spinal cord development in which populations of excitatory and inhibitory interneurons similarly develop patterned connectivity involving a complete set of somatosensory afferents, motoneurons and each other. Without any a priori defined connectivity or organization, Hebbian learning driven by spontaneous, fetal-like motor activity results in the emergence of well-functioning spinal circuits whose connectivity patterns resemble those observed in the adult mammalian spinal cord. The authors suggest that genetic transcriptomes that appear during development may specify phases and rules for adaptive development rather than muscle-specific wiring patterns. The emergent behavior of their model system has important implications for the evolution of new species and potential applications for bio-inspired robots. 

 

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